City eyes $25 million automated fare system for light rail stations

The LRT’s new $25-million fare system will be built from the ground up to be completely automated and work without ever having to talk to an attendant at a kiosk to purchase tickets or swipe your Presto card. (City of Ottawa concept art)

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If you aren’t a fan of face-to-face encounters, you’ll feel right at home on Ottawa’s new light rail trains.

The LRT’s new $25-million fare system will be built from the ground up to be completely automated and work without ever having to talk to an attendant at a kiosk to purchase tickets or swipe your Presto card.

The details of the proposed plan are outlined in a study that will be presented to council today.

With dozens of bus routes connecting to light rail at major transfer points, the system is being moulded on the pillars of speed and an intuitive customer experience.

Much like other major transit systems in Montreal and Toronto, the plan will focus on using turnstiles to get into major stations, vending machines replacing ticket kiosks, fare-paid zones where riders can seamlessly switch from rail to bus without swiping their tickets and computer help stations to ease along anyone lost or confused.

It’s going to be controlled chaos as the city expects 11,000 riders per hour to use the Confederation Line when it opens in 2017, predicted to grow to 24,000 riders per hour.

Think of it.

That’s 9,000 hourly customers jumping on and off 170 buses at major transfer stations like Blair and Tunney’s Pasture.

Amidst all that muckery, the city aims to crack down on fare jumping in a big way, and save some time and dollars along the way.

After all, the city guesses it loses about 2.5% of its revenue each year to those who jump on the back of buses without paying.

In the fare-controlled zones, passengers will only have to pay once and can move between buses and trains without being asked for proof of purchase.

That will let buses open both doors to load passengers, shaving minutes off their time and allowing OC Transpo to rely less on special constables to check for fares.

It’s a system that has worked well in larger cities like Toronto and Montreal.

Vending machines will also let riders buy or refill their Presto cards and buy tickets.

But the most controversial new addition are the help kiosks, that will replace actual Transpo personnel. These audio-visual machines (the first of their kind in Canada) will offer basic transit tips and let riders speak to an attendant, who can open gates or offer accessibility assistance.

The report says they’re a “cost-efficient solution” to customer service, but it’s expected many groups will complain they’d rather talk to an actual human.

City eyes $25 million automated fare system for light rail stations

If you aren’t a fan of face-to-face encounters, you’ll feel right at home on Ottawa’s new light rail trains.

The LRT’s new $25-million fare system will be built from the ground up to be completely automated and work without ever having to talk to an attendant at a kiosk to purchase tickets or swipe your Presto card.

The details of the proposed plan are outlined in a study that will be presented to council today.